In the midst of settling in and pondering the unknowns,we have missed my parents and siblings a bunch. For spring break this year, we decided to head to our ranch for some R&R and to spend some time with my parents. These opportunities are cherished and don't happen enough, but when they do you are sure to find a lipstick-stained smooch print on your cheeks from Mama Didi that you don't ever want to wash off.
As soon as we got to the ranch, Frankie wanted to sweep.I was so happy to see her so motivated to do what I dread AND for using her right hand to assist.Thankfully, there were no scorpions in the dust pan this time. =)
Our days at the ranch were short but we tried to stretch them out. Mark took Frankie out fishing in the pond the first day and she caught her first fish…and her second, third, etc…She was so happy and fearless to touch them...definitely takes after her Dad.
One of the highlights of our stay there was the rain! Cattle raisers & farmers love rain so we grew up embracing it. After the first night of hard rain, we woke up to a gorgeous double rainbow.I took the photo below on my phone as soon as I walked out of the screened porch.I quickly scrambled inside for my "nicer" camera and when I hauled tail outside with it, the rainbow was gone. I was just so thankful to have captured it.
After our week down south, we were back to reality.We signed Frankie up for some WAY overdue swimming lessons that has one instructor for every 2 swimmers. Frankie did great the first day. I have to say I was nervous nellie when Frankie was taken under water for more than 5 seconds. It may be hard to believe, but that was her first time being under water for that long.
Holding your breath underwater is one thing, but learning to paddle is another. Frankie is still having a hard time kicking her right leg. I'm confident this will happen in time. Our swim instructor told us to practice on a bed, belly down and have her kick.
Not surprisingly, the other 5 year old in our class is more advanced so I spoke with the owner of the facility and expressed to her that I didn't want to take away from the other girl's advancement, knowing that Frankie is going to need a bit more guidance. They made arrangements for one on one lessons. I think we all felt more at ease.
After our second week of swim lessons, I treated Frankie to her first mani/pedi.since she has been working so hard.Right after sitting down to get her manicure, I was a little worried not knowing if she would be able to keep her right hand open long enough for the polish to dry. OH, what a dilemma we were in!! ;) That little FEAR of mine was quickly taken away. Soon after Frankie sat down on the pedi chair, a little girl (also 5 years old) sat on the chair next to her. At first, Frankie didn't say a peep. I was telling my nail technician, Quincy that Frankie would be chatting away in no time. She just needed to warm up.
Sure enough, after a few minutes Frankie asked the girl what her name was and the dialogue began. This was the perfect opportunity for Frankie to open up the first page of her storybook. These stories of hers can last a while and sometimes they don't make a lot of sense to others. She is always so very animated when telling them, moving her arms around and making facial gestures so I, personally am always captured by them. A few minutes after she started telling the sweet girl her story, the girl looked at Frankie in confusion not saying a word. Frankie then looked at the girl and said, "Why are you staring at me?" Quincy and I busted out laughing!!We were both so amazed and amused by Frankie's keen perception of the other girls' reaction.
Easter was here before we knew it. We had our neighborhood Tribute Spring fling and wow!! What an awesome set up they had. Seeing a drone taking photos overhead during the event made me realize how different our world today really is;not just by living here, but in many other ways. The Easter bunny was at the event, so we made a bee line after the Easter egg hunt to see him. I was hoping Frankie's fear of the hairy-scary bunny was gone. Not only did she want to hug him and make him hers, she asked him if she could sit on his lap!! After she asked him, he gave her a big thumbs up meaning yes because remember…rabbits can't talk.As we walked away from the photo area Frankie turned back and shouted to the rabbit, "Oh, and I want 6 eggs!"
On Easter Sunday, Mark made a killer brunch here at our home. Having family here made it very special. Seeing Frankie with her cousins cracking the cascarones (confetti Easter eggs) on their heads took me back to my childhood days with my first cousins at my grandmother's ranch.
The Spring holidays are over but we will be very busy in April with weekly evaluations at our new school, blastball, private therapy, swimming and the handwriting clinic.We had a little scare this past weekend on April 2nd that made me feel not so overwhelmed by all the things we have going on.
On the night of April 1st, Frankie told me her ear hurt.I was actually somewhat happy that she was telling me this because she can now localize pain.First thing Saturday morning, I called our pediatrician's office to see when I could get her in. In the meantime, Mark was playing upstairs with her and I was getting Frankie's blast ball outfit ready for team photos we had scheduled for 10am that morning.A few seconds after I walked upstairs, she collapsed in her chair next to Mark and thankfully, he caught her before she fell to the ground. We both looked at each other and said, "Let's go!" We said this at the same time because we both knew and feared what was happening to her. Seizure. Within seconds Frankie was responding to us but leaning on Mark's shoulder as he carried her to my car. We didn't care about strapping her in the car seat. She quickly started to cry. This was good because she was alert but I just wanted to step on the pedal and go! Mark was barefoot and ran inside to get his shoes on while I started the car and stroked her. I was trying to keep her awake and calm. A minute later, she threw up and within the next minute, Mark was in the car and we were off to the same emergency room we went to on August 2015.I was on autopilot there because they took such great care of Frankie before and it was the closest place I knew of.
I took this photo of her in the ER only because I wanted to give my siblings the A-OK that everything was going to be better than fine. They are the first ones I text as I know they are always so quick to respond.
The same doctor that was in the emergency room during Frankie's seizure last year was there! Thankfully Frankie was awake this time. After telling him what had just transpired and her recent ear pain, he looked into her ears with his instrument and pointed to something ketchup-red in the room. He said that her right ear was as red as that.I was so relieved to know we had a culprit.
When I spoke with my brother, David later that day, I was telling him how scared I was. We talked about fear, and he said this. "You can handle FEAR in two ways, Lisa. F@#$ Everything And Run, or Face Everything and React." I told him I think Mark and I did the first acronym that morning…we f@$%ed everything and ran. But, we weren't hysterical and panicking in the process. It's hard to teach yourself to react calmly to something that can be so sudden and scary. What helps me to prep for the "next one" is praying,exercising and knowing what to do in terms of seizure protocol. It's important for me to make my body/mind stronger for the adrenaline rush that may be about to soar through my body at any given moment.
One of my favorite anti-fear quotes is by Dale Carnegie. I'm closing with this.
You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind. ~ Dale Carnegie
